Like sprinters well into the red zone as they approach the finish line, the race for the U.S. Senate seat looks like a photo finish.

And because monitoring my speed, heart rate and cadence on any particular ride is not enough, I have repeatedly tried to do my own unscientific political polling by counting these roads signs. But as soon as I get to the next hill, I lose count.

So I decided to go to the candidates and find out who cares about cyclists, who thinks like a cyclist, and who, like Bill Clinton said in the 1992 campaign, feels our pain. After all, cyclists are a special interest group, too.

Brown has been cycling for decades, participates in charity rides, and competes in triathlons. Warren rode a bike as a child and may occasionally ride at the home of her grandchildren.

Has Brown been able to ride his Trek TTX 9.9 carbon fiber time trial road bike during the election season?

“Not as much as I'd like,” Brown said in an interview Friday, pointing out he has been limited to riding on the trainer two or three times a week because of his campaign schedule.

Brown said he usually rides about seven hours a week for a total of about 100 miles. In Washington, Brown said, he often rides with U.S. Sens. John Kerry, D-Mass., Rob Portman, R-Ohio, and Mark Warner, D-Va., along the Mount Vernon Trail in Virginia or Hains Point at East Potomac Park. The second-most bipartisan senator also crosses the aisle for bike rides.

In a short statement responding to about a dozen questions, Warren said, in part: “I biked when I was a kid and today, I keep a bike at my grandkids' house. I even taught my granddaughter Lavinia how to ride. But this isn't just about kids going to the ballpark. More and more, bikes are how people commute — for some people, it's even their main form of transportation.”

Brown said he has participated in the Pan-Mass Challenge three times and the Rodman Ride for Kids a couple of times.

“I enjoy the camaraderie and the ability to help people,” Brown said.

Last year, Brown had a chance to ride with Lance Armstrong during the Pan-Mass Challenge.

“I rode with Lance for about 10 miles, but they were really moving and I try to enjoy the event,” said Brown, pointing out that he does the ride with a small group and tries to meet other riders along the way.

Racing his way into shape, Brown said he competed in about eight triathlons this season and had a “good year,” usually finishing in the top 10 percent of his age group.

Though cycling and swimming are now his best events in triathlons, Brown said running used to be. However, he was hit by a car while riding and needed a couple of surgeries, which had an adverse effect on his running.

Brown said he would love to take a month and go to Europe with some of his cycling buddies. He said it would be great to ride every day, then sit back in the evening and have a few drinks, then do it again the next day and the next day.

“It would be such a wonderful thing to do,” he said.

Brown said he has had many good days on the bike, including a route in New Hampshire that he loves, a “breathtaking” cycling experience in the Pyrenees in Spain, and a magnificent ride in Calais, France.

He said his best day on the bike, or his most memorable, was a Father's Day ride he took from New Hampshire to his father's house in Newburyport three or four years ago. Brown, whose mother and father divorced when he was about a year old, said he was estranged from his father for many years. He decided on that Father's Day that he would ride to his father's house and meet his wife and two daughters there. He said he remembers it as a melancholy ride, but he was going hard and working up a good sweat as he rode through Rye, Hampton, Salisbury and Amesbury along the coast, pushing harder and harder to get to Newburyport.

“I was riding toward my dad, and the irony was emotional,” Brown said.

On the legislative front, Warren said in a statement that she believes there should be a wide variety of transportation options.

“That means we have good roads, but also that we have good trains, good sidewalks, and good bike paths for those who prefer to ride to work or to the store. I support giving people choices on how they get around,” she said.

“This summer, I put forward my 'Rebuild Now' plan, a fully paid-for plan for rebuilding infrastructure,” Warren said in the statement. “It includes support for the Partnership for Sustainable Communities, an initiative of the EPA, HUD and Transportation Department, that supports expanding transportation choices for individuals.”

However, her seven-point “Rebuild Now” plan never mentions bicycle lanes, bikeways or anything about bicycles.

Brown said he backed the Rails to Trails program as a state senator and continues to stand up for bicyclists as a member of the U.S. Senate.

“I am always trying to support any cycling initiatives,” Brown said. “Any time there are grant opportunities and I can jump onboard and push it through, it's a good thing.”

Brown said improving bikeways and adding bike lanes can be difficult with the present fiscal conditions, but not impossible. Given the economic climate, he said, communities need to take the initiative and seek competitive grants that are available, making local, state and federal partnerships.

“Cities and towns must first show the desire to do it and then go after the money to do it,” Brown said.

The Nauset Bike Trail on Cape Cod received grant money for improvements earlier this year, according to Brown's website.

The election is less than 10 days away, and the two candidates are shifting into the big ring for the finishing sprint.

Asked about the time trial helmet he is sometimes seen wearing at cycling events, Brown said he has many helmets, including the traditional bike helmet, but admits the TT helmet, worn by many triathletes, is often his choice for a reason.